Outstanding Public Safety-Police Academy Graduate Award - Thursday, 12-17-09 The Coachella Valley Chapter, National Latino Peace Officers Association (CVLPOA) presented its annual Outstanding Public Safety-Police Academy Graduate Award on Thursday, December 17th at the College of the Desert (COD) Public Safety-Police Academy graduation ceremonies at the McCallum Theater in Palm Desert, CA. Mark Barfknecht and G. J. "Sandy" Sandoval, the CVLPOA's Scholarship and Special Awards Committee co-chairs, presented the Award. Chapter President Manny Lopez and Chapter members Dave S. Chandler, Page Patterson, Dave Snellings, John Woods, Sam Cross, Jim Diaz and Miguel Gonzalez attended the graduation awards ceremony. The CVLPOA Award is provided to a public safety-police academy graduate who completes all aspects of the challenging peace officer academy in an outstanding, distinguished and exemplary manner. The Award is one thousand ($1,000) dollars, a CVLPOA Certificate of Recognition, and one year courtesy membership in the CVLPOA. The 2009 CVLPOA Award recipient is Sharon D. Smith. Sharon D. Smith is truly a remarkable individual and extremely deserving of this years award. She first of all overcame daunting past physical health issues to enroll in the police academy. She is a single mom, the single parent of 3 teenagers-which in itself would earn an award! In fact, earlier this year Sharon was honored and awarded a special certificate of recognition by the California State Senate and State Assembly for being named as one of the Desert Cities 25 Best Moms! Sharon completed all levels of the challenging and demanding State of CA POST certified COD Public Safety-Police Academy, to include distinguished accomplishments in Academics, Physical Fitness, Leadership, Technical, and Tactical Law Enforcement Training. She is a college graduate with a Bachelors degree in Administration of Justice; she is bi-lingual and is currently a Reserve Police Officer for the Banning Police Department. She is pending full-time hire as a regular officer by the Banning PD. Sharon is most definitely a role model for all who wish to overcome extreme hardships and succeed in their lives. On behalf of the membership of the Coachella Valley Chapter-LPOA, we congratulate Sharon on an outstanding job…Well Done! We welcome Officer Sharon D. Smith to our noble profession and wish her continued success as a sworn peace officer.

CVLPOA  •  P.O. Box 1574  •  Indio, CA 92202 HOME  |  EVENTS  |  CHAPTER INFO  |  SUPPORT  |  MEMBERSHIP

Website created by Jan Diaz Design